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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28567248">The Forbidden Fruit</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/exovelvetwriters/pseuds/exovelvetwriters'>exovelvetwriters</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EXO (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, EXOVelvet, F/M, Fantasy, Reincarnation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:47:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,008</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28567248</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/exovelvetwriters/pseuds/exovelvetwriters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Park Sooyoung finally realized what her mother’s stories were all about—it’s already too late.</p><p>Genre: Fantasy, Prompt: Reincarnation</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Park Sooyoung | Joy &amp; Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Park Sooyoung | Joy/Kim Junmyeon | Suho</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>EXOVelvetWritersFest 2.0</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Forbidden Fruit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>My mother was a witch—at least that’s what people used to think of her. But if you ask me? I think she’s just purely insane. I still don’t know how she managed to raise me alone. I have never even seen her work but somehow, we never got hungry. There’s always food in the table and clothes to keep us warm. Weirdly enough, every time I ask her about it, she’ll always tell me to just thank god. Which god though? I never knew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’s the reason why I didn’t grow up to stories about Princesses and their magical kingdoms. I grew up hearing stories about monsters, villains, and devils. Probably because my mother wanted me to save myself instead of waiting for the prince charming to come kiss me. However, out of all the weird stories she told me, the story of Adam and Eve has always been my favorite.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You see, my mother wasn’t that religious. So I was surprised that she knew who Adam and Eve were. Although I’ll dare say that her version is a hundred times better than the Bible’s.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Adam and Eve are cursed</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she told me then. They’re cursed to live and suffer a tragic ending over and over again. It was the punishment for their twisted love that even defied </span>
  <em>
    <span>God</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Samson and Delilah. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Romeo and Juliet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jack and Rose. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>My mother told me that all the tragic love story recorded in history is them. Different years, different names, different stories—same great love and same miserable ending. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I didn’t really know why that story stayed with me through the years. Even now that my mother is dead. Perhaps because she used to call me </span>
  <em>
    <span>Eve </span>
  </em>
  <span>sometimes. Funny because that name isn’t even an ounce similar to mine... Park Sooyoung. My name may be hard to remember but that’s surely not the case when you’re my mother and you’re the one who named me.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But I slowly pieced them together when he showed up. He said his name was Kim Junmyeon—lost in the woods with only his horse to keep him company. I don’t know how he came across our cottage, but my mother hated him at first sight. It was the kind of hate that took me by surprise because mother wasn’t friendly, but she was never rude. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With Junmyeon though, she almost treated him like a curse, like a plague to avoid. I’ve always wondered why but I never got the answer from her. She would always tell me not to get near him or else I’ll suffer. That if I want to live a long life I should run as fast as possible away from that man. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That didn’t stop me and Junmyeon from falling in love. Our story was a bliss. He owns a small farm near our house and every night, after mother had fallen asleep, I would sneak out just to be with him. He’ll cook me my favorite beef stew and read me stories. Sometimes he would even try to teach me how to read and write. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The best thing about him, he loved my mother dearly, despite her unexplainable hatred towards him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, I think I finally get my mother. Now that I’m on the edge of death while holding the love of my life’s hand. All her stories about Adam and Eve dawned on me like a big slap on the face. I should’ve seen this coming and I should’ve trusted her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll make it out alive.” He told me, caressing my face as if his life depends on it. His usual calmness is gone, now all I can see is fear. I wanted to believe him, but my mother’s story is enough warning. She knew who I am, who I was—who we were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you,” I said before it’s too late. Clinging on to our last moment because I can feel it in me. We have reached the end. “In this lifetime and the next.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe </span>
  <em>
    <span>God</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s just too cruel for he didn’t even allow Junmyeon to answer me—didn’t even allow me to hear those three words. Gunshot was what I heard next instead of his voice. Things just happened too fast and the next thing I know, I’m standing in front of his lifeless body. I feel like someone grabbed my heart out and dropped it a million times—a pain so familiar, a pain so impossible to forget. It feels like hell and it really tastes like the wrath of </span>
  <em>
    <span>God</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His death made me finally see him. He’s not just Junmyeon who drove my nightmares away, not just Junmyeon who lulled me to sleep and not just Junmyeon who made me believe in love and drowned me in it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s also Samson who I once betrayed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s also Romeo who died believing I died because of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s also Crisostomo who thought he could save me.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s also Jack who sacrificed his life just so I could live.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s also names I have already forgotten.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s Adam… the first man ever created and the one destined to be in eternal misery with me. All that because I trusted a serpent and ate the forbidden fruit—all that because Adam trusted me. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I am Eve and a thousand names I don’t even remember anymore. Though in this lifetime I am Park Sooyoung, clueless about the ruthless world and ended up in the wrong light. I thought leaving home would gain me freedom from my mother but she was right all along. Curses will come bite you when you least expected it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Junmyeon was just trying to save me but now he’s dead. I heard another gunshot and thankfully the bullet went straight to my heart. I’ll consider it a consolation from </span>
  <em>
    <span>God </span>
  </em>
  <span>that at least in this lifetime… Adam and Eve get to die together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>My mother was a witch—no, scratch that, she’s a deity and she’s now tired of </span>
  <em>
    <span>God’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>cruel jokes too.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>THE END</strong>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please leave kudos and comments for our author! &lt;3 You could also leave a like and share with your friends on Twitter! Just look for our festival thread on @exovelvetwrtrs.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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